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First Impressions
I was quite impressed the first time I visited Belmont Elementary School. Not only was the campus bright, airy, and well-kept, but the faculty and staff that I met were also equally cheerful and welcoming. I was greeted first by the office staff and Mr. Edwards, and one of the first things I heard was the school motto, “Failure Is Not an Option.” This motto is seen and heard all over Belmont’s campus. As I toured the school, I could not help but notice how colorful and tidy the campus was, and how each teacher and staff person I met was friendly and enthusiastic about the new school year. Driving away after that initial visit, I was definitely eager to return and work with the “Bees” at Belmont Elementary!Facilities
Despite the fact that Belmont is a relatively new facility (it was built in 1997), we are currently a little above capacity right now, so ALL classroom and instructional space is being utilized fully this year. Most classrooms can hold around 24 students (some only 16-20), but most class sizes so far this year hover around 22. We have an entire hall for each grade level (6 total, plus a main hall housing computer labs, enhancement classes, the gymtorium, cafeteria, and media center), with two playground areas. The building is colorful, incredibly tidy, and inviting.Belmont Facilities
Map of Belmont Elementary
Student Population
Financial
Belmont Elementary is a Title I school, and therefore Title I dollars comprise a large portion of the school’s discretionary money; Title I funds may only be spent to support reading and math, however, which can place a strain on school systems as they determine how it is used.The largest portion of the school’s and district’s budget seems to be dedicated to teacher and staff salaries (including health and retirement benefits), with much of the rest of the budget devoted to “instructional supplies.” What was most interesting in looking at the budgets, though, was that a) the building-level principal did not have the full overview of ALL the money that is connected with his or her school, but rather just portions of it, and b) that more than one entity (for example, the superintendent or a district instructional coach) is able to spend from that “pot” of money on his or her budget, without consultation or even immediate notice. This demonstrated for me the complexity and intricacies of the budget process.
School Curriculum
This year, Belmont Elementary, along with all North Carolina public schools, is moving to the Common Core State Standards in ELA and Mathematics, as well as the NC Essential Standards in Science and Social Studies. These extend all the way from kindergarten to 5th grade. In addition, Belmont offers an AIG pullout program and six Enhancement classes for students: music/chorus, art, computers, physical education, and media for all grade levels, and band for 5th graders (band students travel to Chaloner Middle School every morning to work with the middle school band director). Our school schedule also mandates a 90-minute reading block for every grade level, every day, to support our literacy focus, and a specified school-wide Intervention & Enrichment period to address individual students’ needs and progress.Belmont Master Schedule
Achievement
2011-2012 ABC Results
2009-2010 NC School Report Card
2008-2009 NC School Report Card
Culture
According to the results of the most recent NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey, teachers at Belmont do not feel that the community supports the school. This, among others, is an issue that the administration is working to address this year. Otherwise, Belmont’s staff rates the school at or above the state average in many other categories, including teacher collaboration and leadership. Many of the staff admit that the school operates like “a family,” and all of the teachers seem to get along well with each other and the students.In terms of discipline, during the 2011-2012 school year there were 204 reported discipline incidents (including fighting, defiant behavior, etc.); 60 of those were dealt with using out-of-school suspension (OSS), and 55 were handled using in-school suspension. At Belmont, in-school suspension is called “ReFocus,” in an effort to create more constructive messaging for students about its purpose.
2010-2012 Teacher Working Conditions Survey Comparison Results
Calendar
Belmont Master Schedule
Roanoke Rapids Graded School District 2012-2013 Calendar
Belmont Monthly Meeting Calendar
School Website/Communication
The school’s website falls under the same overall design and umbrella of the district’s website, and therefore is somewhat constrained in terms of the “look and feel” and navigation options. However, there are several strengths of the website, including its highlighting of educational opportunities and links for both students and parents, prominently featured information about the new Common Core Standards, staff member directory and contact information, and the link to the School Improvement Plan. In terms of areas for growth, there was little information related to the current school year (2012-2013), and some of the information listed was from as far back as two years ago (i.e. the student handbook). Also, neither the mission and vision statements nor the principal’s message were displayed, which would be key things to feature at the beginning of the school year.
Stakeholder Interviews
In order to get a more comprehensive picture of Belmont Elementary as a whole, I conducted interviews with teachers, office staff, administration, parents, and students across Belmont's campus. Each person was asked four general questions: 1) What is the greatest asset here at Belmont? 2) What have been our greatest accomplishments here over the past few years? 3) What is the greatest challenge we have here at Belmont? and 4) What do you see as my role (or a leader's role) here? I organized their answers into four "Wordles," and the patterns that emerged were quite remarkable in some cases.Greatest Assets
Virtually every single person I interviewed-- even the students!-- told me that they believed the teachers and staff here were Belmont's greatest assets. Some quotes went along the lines of "we're like a family-- sometimes we bicker, but we're still they're for each other" and "we're a community, and we pull together when we need to." Clearly, the staff at Belmont appreciate and love each other, and value the team culture as a whole.
Greatest Accomplishments
The answers for this question varied across the board. Several teachers mentioned academic growth and better communication, even the implementation of the PLC process for collaboration. Administrators and support staff brought up some of those things as well, but also emphasized greater community outreach and more opportunities for parent involvement in recent years, as well as more extracurricular and after-school activities for students.
Greatest Challenges
As you can see from the size and frequency, the challenge that was brought up most often here involved parents-- their support and involvement. Many teachers expressed frustration, saying that they felt parents often acted with an "us vs. them" mentality, and didn't support teachers. Administrative and support staff also mentioned parents, but in a slightly different light; they brought up that it often seems parents aren't focusing on the academic mission of the school, but on other things. All parties expressed that getting parents actively involved and "plugged in" with the school in a positive way is a challenge.
Leader's Role
This answer was my favorite, probably because it was so surprising to me. The words that emerged, as you can see, were "build," "teachers," and "parents". If organized into a single phrase-- "build teachers and parents." All of the answers about a school leader's responsibility tie back in some way to this phrase. The verb "build" was mentioned in several different aspects: building capacity, building relationships, building trust, building support, etc. Overall, it was clear that staff, students, and parents want school leaders who work to "build" a strong culture and learning environment.
School Communication and Messaging
Belmont sends out several types of regular communication, both to its staff and parents/community. For staff, Mr. Edwards sends out a "Monday Monitor"; this one-page weekly newsletter highlights the calendar and events for the week, important reminders, a "Reading Corner" with advice and suggestions from the reading coaches, and a professional growth and development section outlining new trends and updates in education and child development. The school also sends out a weekly "E-Blast" to both staff and parents, highlighting important events and reminders for the week ahead, as well as frequent "AlertNow" automated telephone messages regarding major announcements or inclement weather. In addition, every student takes home their "Tuesday Folder" each week; not only does this include classroom work and teacher notes, but it also carries any memos or hard-copy information (i.e. calendars, forms, permission slips) to parents.Our parent and family involvement coordinator, Mr. Marcus Carey, also has a newsletter entitled the "Home and School Connection," which goes out to parents (copies are also available in the front office), as well as a memo regarding the P.O.P.S. (Parents of Positive Students) program informing parents what it is and how to get involved.
Links to copies of several of the above materials are listed below.
Belmont Monday Morning Monitor Sample
Belmont Weekly E-Blast (E-mail Screenshot)
Belmont Home-School Connection
Belmont POPS Memo
There have also been a few articles published about Belmont Elementary in the Roanoke Rapids newspaper The Daily Herald. Often they are part of larger article about RRGSD or Roanoke Valley area schools in general, but the overall tone and attitude of the articles I came across was quite positive. The town seems to give the school a good amount of positive press.
"Friday is fun day at Belmont" - RR Daily Herald
"Belmont's Tinkham wins poster contest" - RR Daily Herald
"Teacher retention a priority" - RR Daily Herald